Biblical World-Views for Life, Church, and Business

3 Ideas For Getting Over That Creative Slump

Whether you’re writing that next great novel, unleashing your inner artist or brainstorming for the next big project at the office, you want creative juices flowing. What if it all shuts down though? What if you’ve found yourself in the iconic “writer’s block”? Read on for 3 tips on how to keep chugging along without losing your stride…

1. Change the zoom!

Have you ever looked at an instruction manual that showed the finished product laid out in its “exploded view”? I’m talking about when it shows all the components, bolts, nuts and screws with lines connecting each part to where it needs to go. If you’ve put together anything from IKEA then you know what I’m talking about and you’ve probably begun twitching from the memory…I’m so sorry…

Anyway, sometimes the best way to get over a creative slump is to change your “zoom level”. In other words try zooming out of what you’re focusing on right now and zoom into a different component for a bit. You can also zoom in to see the small things that make the whole. For instance perhaps you’re looking at the whole house when you should just focus on the kitchen, the spare bathroom or how you’re going to increase the audio dampening ability of your teenager’s bedroom walls.

This simple switching back and forth can help break up the monotony and set your brain free!

2. Compare your apples to your oranges.

So now you’re zooming in and out and all over your project making changes here and there. What’s next? Well for the next level of slump-slappin goodness we’re going to start comparing how our changes to the individual components are actually affecting other components. What’s that mean you say? If I expand my kitchen to allow for more pies to be produced then how is that going to affect the space I made in my dining room for the eating of said pies? We’re quickly coming up to a critical “bake to eat” pie ratio here!

When we start thinking about how the changes we make in one area can affect other areas it can open up a lot more to explore. Think even on possible intangible changes that might occur. Like how I want pie now…

3. Solve a different problem.

This may seem odd but you gotta try it. Let’s say you’ve been designing the next great widget that goes on the whatchamacallit that’s part of the super X3000 Gen 2 thing. After you’ve refilled your coffee and cracked the knuckles just stop and switch to a completely foreign project for a few minutes.

Now in your head you’re designing the next super car for your favorite automobile company. Yes I know you may not be an engineer but let’s just pretend. Just…dream. Go through switching the zoom in and out and thinking about what component changes might affect others. Most of all though have fun! Then after a bit come back and start afresh on your project. It will be a nice reset for your brain and hey, who knows? You might even be able to glean an idea from la-la land to use on your own project!

I hope this helps! I love ya and Jesus loves ya. Until next time – keep creating!